It is good to be with you today as we study God’s Word and learn from it. Thank you for being there. While Jesus was here, his harshest words were for the religious leaders. Time after time, they rejected Him and tried to minimize His miracles. Jesus was a threat to their false religion, and they decided He must be eliminated. We know they succeeded in killing Jesus, but there was no possible way He could be stopped. He is the one who holds all power and absolute authority.

Today, we look at the conversation where they question His authority. Jesus sees through their question and responds with a question; it is a very interesting conversation. If you can turn to Mark 11, Pastor J Mark will guide us as we look at Jesus’ response to their questions.      

I grew up in the 1960s and 1970s, a time of significant change. The focus wasn’t on what was right or what benefited society. It was on the individual: What do I want, and how can I get it? This was the “ME” generation. This attitude led to the rejection of authority, all authority: civil, social, and religious. Nothing was sacred; nothing was off-limits for rebellion. 

Those attitudes and actions weren’t new. The problem began with our first parents in the Garden of Eden. Ever since Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, every human has been born with the desire to go their own way and to decide who will chart their path in life.

Questions about authority existed in Jesus’s time, too. In today’s text, Jesus is confronted by the religious leaders concerning His authority. His actions challenged and disrupted their system of authority, and they didn’t take that lightly.

So, listen carefully as I read the Scripture and discuss “The Question of Authority.” Here are the Holy Spirit-inspired words of Mark 11:27-33.

²⁷ Then they came again to Jerusalem. And as He was walking in the temple, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came to Him. 

²⁸ And they said to Him, “By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority to do these things?”

²⁹ But Jesus answered and said to them, “I also will ask you one question; then answer Me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things: 

³⁰ The baptism of John—was it from heaven or from men? Answer Me.”

³¹ And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ 

³² But if we say, ‘From men’—they feared the people, for all counted John to have been a prophet indeed. 

³³ So they answered and said to Jesus, “We do not know.” And Jesus answered and said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

Jesus provides several essential ANSWERS to questions of authority in His interaction with the Jewish religious leaders.

The First ANSWER (to the question of authority) is,

The Foundation of Authority

Our text opens with Jesus and the disciples walking in the Temple. Suddenly, the elders and chief priests appear and block their path. They had a question they wanted Jesus to answer. “By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority to do these things?” They saw themselves as having the authority to interpret the Law of Moses. Based on that position, this is their “official” inquiry.

In Judaism, all authoritative teaching required previous authorization. Your teaching rested on your teacher’s authority or the approval of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish Supreme Court.

Now you can understand why they asked Him this question. As used here, the word contains the idea of both right, that is, authorization to make the decisions, and might, the ability to enforce those decisions.

So, let’s explore these questions. First, “What is the basis of your authority?” Where does it come from? It is a good question. Maybe you think you don’t have any authority. However, if you are a Christ-follower, you have authority based on Jesus’ commission to all His disciples in Matthew 28:18. 

Ultimately, all authority rests in God. Listen to Isaiah 45:5. “I am the Lord, and there is no other; there is no God besides Me. I will gird you, though you have not known Me, that they may know from the sun’s rising to its setting that there is none besides Me. I am the Lord, and there is no other; I form the light and create darkness; I make peace and create calamity; I, the Lord, do all these things.” The Creator has absolute authority over what He creates.

Jesus demonstrated His authority by claiming the right to forgive sin. In Mark 2:10, He told the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.” Because the leaders rejected His authority, they accused Him of speaking blasphemies. Jesus also exercised His authority in granting salvation. In the home of Simon the Pharisee, Jesus said to the woman who anointed Him, “Your faith has saved you. Go into peace.”

Finally, Jesus has full authority over life and death. In John 10:17-18, He said, “Therefore My Father loves Me because I lay down My life that I may retake it. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down by Myself. I have the power to lay it down, and I have the power to take it back.”

Jesus never requested permission from the Jewish leaders for His teaching and healing. This infuriated them because it indicated Jesus’ disdain for them. If you think disdain is too harsh a word, read Matthew 23, a whole chapter of scathing rebuke for their hypocrisy!

The foundation of Jesus’ authority, of all authority, is God the Father. This leads us to the answer to the second question.

The Next ANSWER (to the question of authority) is,

The Delegation of Authority

Their second question was, “Who gave You this authority to do these things?” Jesus could have ignored their question. He had already given them extraordinary proof of His identity. The elders did get one thing right. They knew authority must be given. No human being has ultimate authority. The only ones who don’t accept this fact are dictators and tyrants.

In response to their question, Jesus said, “I also will ask you one question; then answer Me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things: The baptism of John—was it from heaven or men? Answer Me.” To rephrase Jesus’ question, we could say, “Where did John get His authority, from heaven or men?” Jesus’ reference encompassed John’s whole ministry, not just the act of baptism. Notice, too, that Jesus demanded an answer. Jesus’ counter-question implies that He has authority over the Sanhedrin.

Picture these men, who had stepped forward to confront Jesus, now going off to the side to huddle and decide how to answer Jesus’ question. Their brief conference revealed that they were forced to choose between two equally undesirable alternatives. If they admitted that John’s ministry was from heaven, they knew Jesus would respond, “Why didn’t you believe him?” If they accepted John’s ministry as authentic, they were forced to acknowledge Jesus’ ministry as the same. John had personally sanctioned Jesus’ ministry by baptizing Him.

If they said John’s ministry was from men, they would get in trouble with the crowds. The people were convinced that John was a prophet speaking with Divine authority. The elders and Herod feared John even though he was dead. His martyrdom had deepened his power over the people, and disrespect towards his memory might cause a riot.

Jesus here takes the wise in their cunning. He knew John was held in high esteem among the people, and He saw that if they gave any answer at all, they must convict themselves. The elders also saw this when they began to ponder His question. So, they took the easy way out; they said, “We do not know.” That leads us to our final answer regarding authority.  

The Final ANSWER (to the question of authority) is,

The Determination of Authority

“We do not know.” Wait a minute! These men are the religious authorities. They’re responsible for evaluating the claims of anyone who professes to be a prophet. They’re the gatekeepers of the religion. But they knew if they acknowledged the Divine origins of John’s ministry, they’d have to accept those exact Divine origins of Jesus’ ministry, too. They weren’t prepared to do that.

They said, ” We do not know.” They should have said, “We will not tell, for we will not have this man for the Messiah.” If we acknowledge John as his forerunner, we must receive Jesus as the Christ. Their dishonest reply was an attempt to escape the trap they had fallen into by challenging Jesus’ authority. Their refusal to take a stand on the Baptist, who was the Forerunner of Christ, absolved Jesus of the need to give a reply. However, as we will see, Jesus has no notion of letting them avoid the issue. The opening verses of chapter 12 are aimed squarely at them.

In response to their evasive answer, Jesus said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.” Because the religious leaders were unwilling to acknowledge the authority of John’s ministry, Jesus refused their attempt to determine the source of His authority.

What does all this mean for you and me? “By what authority do You do these things?” It is the supreme question every unbeliever faces. You are in that position today if you have not submitted your will to Christ. You have not yet fallen on your face before Him and embraced Him as your Savior and Lord because you doubt His authority.

You may be thinking, “By what authority does He command me to repent of my sins and come to Him?” He does that by the authority given to Him by God Himself. God, the Father, is the foundation of ALL authority, a fact you cannot change but can ignore to your peril.

The Father has delegated all authority to His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Unlike the religious leaders criticizing Him, other human beings didn’t establish His authority. His demand that they answer His question expresses His authority.

The elders’ refusal to decide on Jesus’ authority cut them off from the only source of salvation. Until you acknowledge Jesus’ authority, He is not obligated to answer your questions either. The proof, the evidence of His authority – it’s all there. You can accept or reject it but can’t legitimately deny it. You cannot escape it, either.

The question Pilate raised when confronting the Jewish crowd at Jesus’ trial is still valid today. “What shall I do with Jesus, who is called Christ?” It is a question YOU must answer! Ho

Thanks, J Mark, for breaking down this interesting conversation. I appreciate the ending. Make it personal. Jesus had authority back then, and the Pharisees were foolish to deny it. The Pharisees had enough proof; they didn’t believe because they didn’t want to. Today, not much has changed; all authority still belongs to Jesus. Some deny it, and others acknowledge it and serve Jesus with all they have. As J Mark said, there are only two options: you can accept it or reject it; there is no middle ground.

Thanks for listening, and if you have any questions or comments about this teaching, please let me know. We’d love to hear from you. Our email address is hope@heraldsofhope.org, and our website is heraldsofhope.org. There you will find “contact us” under the partner tab on the top right. Click on that to message us directly. Either way is fine; we look forward to hearing from you soon.   

We have a few conversations like this one in which the Pharisees tried to trap Jesus with His words. This was a futile effort, and He always knew what they were up to. If only they had recognized Him as the Messiah and acknowledged Him as their Savior. They made their choice; now the decision is ours. How will you respond to the authority of Jesus?